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Andy Wightman MSP

Lothian

Local Government, Communities, Housing & Land Reform

Andy Wightman was elected as an MSP in May 2016. He is a member of the Economy, Jobs & Fair Work Committee and the Local Government & Communities Committee in Parliament. He is a respected writer and campaigner on land rights, democracy and the economy. Andy is the author of publications including Who Owns Scotland (1996), Scotland: Land and Power (1999), Community Land Rights: A Citizen’s Guide (2009) and The Poor Had No Lawyers (2010). He has served as a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee and represented the Scottish Green Party on the Commission on Local Tax Reform. Andy lives in Edinburgh and in any spare time enjoys mountaineering, cycling and music.

On 12 September 2018, Ruth Davidson MSP, Kezia Dugdale MSP, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP and myself wrote to Kevin Stewart MSP, the Minister for Local government and Housing to urge him to introduce a Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI) to Parliament that would provide local authorities the powers to licence short term lets. We attached a draft SSI to our letter.

This week the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) launched Phase 3 of a crowdfunding campaign to fund litigation against the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Ministers in the Court of Session. The case follows an enforcement notice served by the council on the owner of 3F1, 14 Chancelot Terrace for an unapproved change of use from a flat to a short-term let. The owner appealed to Scottish Ministers who upheld the Council’s decision and the decisions of both the Council and Scottish Ministers are now being challenged in the courts.

I have launched a consultation on a proposal to introduce a Members’ Bill to the Scottish Parliament that would incorporate the European Charter on Local Self-Government into Scots law.

The European Charter of Local Self-Government is an international treaty of the Council of Europe which enshrines basic rules guaranteeing the political, administrative and financial independence of local authorities. It was ratified by the United Kingdom in 1998 and it came into force on 1 August 1998.

The Scottish Government needs to play catch-up on the worsening problem of empty homes and second homes if it is to tackle the housing crisis, according to Scottish Greens housing spokesperson Andy Wightman MSP.

Publishing a major new report on the issue, Mr Wightman reveals that over the last decade as homelessness has worsened, the proportion of empty homes in Scotland has risen, from 2.76 per cent to 3.05 per cent - a situation he describes as "incredulous".

The Planning (Scotland) Bill is currently being scrutinised and debated within Parliament. I am proposing to table amendments to enable local authorities to acquire land for public-interest development at existing use value. Amendments will be considered at Stage 2 of the Bill in the latter part of June 2018. Because this proposal does not form part of the Bill, I am consulting on it in order to inform the drafting of the amendment and to establish views on the merits or otherwise of the proposition.

This morning in the Court of Session, there will be a hearing on whether to give permission to proceed with a petition lodged by Andy Wightman MSP, Ross Greer MSP, Alyn Smith MEP, David Martin MEP, Catherine Stihler MEP, Christine Jardine MP and Joanna Cherry MP. The petition concerns a question in law - can Article 50 be unilaterally revoked by the UK Parliament? It asks the Court to refer this question to the Court of Justice of the European Union - the only Court than can provide an answer. Key documents are linked below.

Today, the new Private Residential Tenancy regime comes into force.[1]. This comes at a time when the number of tenants in the private rented sector has trebled since 1999. Yet, despite these new rules coming into force, it is already apparent that for many people in the private rented sector, insecurity will continue.